Imagine if Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis hadn’t gifted the Chicago Bears a game-winning pick six in the fourth quarter of the season opener. Imagine if the Bears were headed into the final week of September at 0-3 for a second consecutive season. Imagine how much louder an already vociferous chorus of criticism would be if a promising season was already circling the drain before October arrived.
As it stands, Levis’ critical Week 1 error has offered at least some cushion for the Bears, who have strung together three straight unimpressive performances to open their season. Things have been particularly disjointed on offense where the Bears’ turnover total (five) is higher than their touchdown count (three).
And now, as Week 4 arrives, the Bears are suddenly facing a heightened level of urgency to keep their season on track after Sunday’s mistake-filled 21-16 loss in Indianapolis.
Are there any ways to look on the bright side? Can the offense find its footing soon? And just how stacked is the NFC North as the Bears attempt their climb?
To take a pulse on things after three weeks, Tribune writers Dan Wiederer and Colleen Kane sort through four pressing topics in true-or-false format.
True or false: Sunday’s loss was entirely void of silver linings.
Dan Wiederer: False. There were several moments and performances worthy of highlighting in Indianapolis. Rookies Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze, for example, connected six times for 112 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. That should be the first of many touchdowns and many big games for the duo, whose chemistry is starting to come together. William’s first completion to Odunze on Sunday was a dot, a 47-yard bomb that floated perfectly over safety Nick Cross and into Odunze’s hands. Beautiful stuff.
Tremaine Edmunds and Jaylon Johnson also capitalized on takeaway opportunities, each recording interceptions on gift throws provided by Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson. Defensive end Montez Sweat recorded his first sack of the season — and would have played a huge role in a Bears takeaway had officials not ruled Richardson down on that play just before DeMarcus Walker stripped the football.
Also don’t overlook the tackle for loss Austin Booker contributed in the second quarter, an impressive stop of Colts running back Jonathan Taylor three yards behind the line of scrimmage.
So yes, there were notable positive contributions Sunday from core players and rising prospects. The problem is the loss was filled with such sloppiness that it’s hard to sugarcoat just how inexcusable Sunday’s performance was overall. There are no acceptable consolation prizes when a team finds ways to lose the way the Bears did at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Colleen Kane: The Williams-Odunze connection was a big silver lining to me. The Bears went into Sunday with one pass play of more than 25 yards, and the rookie duo connected on a 47-yarder and a 27-yarder against the Colts.
Williams said afterward he told Odunze he was going to get him the ball more.
“The routes he runs, the trust and belief I have in him,” Williams said of what helped form that connection. “Some of the practice reps, some of the after-practice reps that Rome and I have been getting these past couple of weeks, I think it pays off. And we’re going to keep doing it because we want to build that connection and have that trust and belief in each other.”
Williams also leaned on Cole Kmet to get the passing game going. He had a season-high 10 catches for 97 yards and the Bears’ last touchdown catch. Roschon Johnson’s bigger role was a positive to me. And as you mentioned, the Bears defense continues to make big plays, this time with Edmunds and Jaylon Johnson delivering.
Those at least give the Bears something to build upon in Week 4, but it certainly doesn’t wipe away the sour taste from some of the errors Sunday.
True or false: The Bears’ inability to score after getting first-and-goal from the 4 was the most frustrating part of Sunday’s loss.
Kane: True. It was an incredibly maddening stretch late in the second quarter, especially when you consider the Bears had to run six plays just to get from the 19-yard line to the 4.
I think there is so much we can question about the next four plays, which included three straight Khalil Herbert runs up the middle — for gains of 2, 1 and 1 yards — and an option play to the left in which Williams pitched to D’Andre Swift — and Swift lost 12 yards.
I’m at a loss to understand why the Bears can’t gain 4 yards on the ground. (Or more than 63 rushing yards against a bad Colts run defense, but that’s a tangent.) Why can’t the offensive line get going? Why direct snap it to Herbert on the first down play and why run the next two out of the shotgun? Should they have gone with Roschon Johnson in their goal-line package? I think Herbert is a good running back and has been underutilized thus far by offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. But the Bears had given him just one carry before that.
It’s fair to question everything.
That includes what in the world went wrong with the final play on that series. We don’t talk to Waldron until Thursday to hear what he had in mind. But I know you talked to A LOT of Bears players about how a fourth-and-1 at the 1 could go so wildly wrong.
Tracking Caleb Williams: How the Chicago Bears QB is performing in his rookie season
Wiederer: Just about everything went wrong. From the play call to the look the Colts defense offered to Williams not feeling he had enough time to check to a different play to the poor execution of the line on the play. It was a fitting sequence of frustration for an offense that has not done anything through the first three games to establish a formidable running game.
For whatever it’s worth, Johnson set the Bears up with that goal-to-go opportunity when he kept his legs churning to convert fourth-and-1 from the 5. That was an effort contribution, the type of hard-charging run the Bears haven’t had nearly enough of. And then Johnson went to the sideline for the next four plays. And the Bears had neither the proper personnel groupings nor the tenacity to finish an important drive in the end zone.
At certain points in a game, a play-caller has to divert from the chess game of trying to find plays and matchups that will prove advantageous and find a page or two in the playbook that will work no matter what the defense presents. You identify a play you trust with players you believe in and you run it with conviction and determination. Right now, the Bears offense is playing like a unit that’s searching. And that was very evident during the end of that possession.
True or false: The Bears have their work cut out for them in trying to climb out of the NFC North basement.
Wiederer: True. Very true. Oh so true.
The rest of the division rolled on Sunday with the Minnesota Vikings delivering the most attention-grabbing victory — a 34-7 thrashing of the very same Houston Texans team that beat the Bears in prime time in Week 2. The Green Bay Packers, meanwhile, won for the second consecutive week with backup quarterback Malik Willis running their show. And the reigning division champion Detroit Lions traveled to Arizona and rolled up 187 rushing yards in steamrolling the Cardinals.
The Bears don’t start division play until Week 11, playing six of their final eight games against NFC North opponents. But they’re going to have to show drastic improvement to make any kind of noise within what has suddenly become one of the league’s toughest divisions.
Through three weeks, Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings may be the league’s most surprising team with statement victories over the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Texans. That is a bold-lettered reminder of how valuable strong coaching can be in this league. And to that end, it’s inarguable that Matt Eberflus is by far the least-proven coach in the North.
Kane: Yes, it was jarring as the Bears game was wrapping up Sunday to see those results, particularly the Vikings’ dominance over the Texans. Maybe I cut the Bears a little slack in their loss to the Texans, chalking it up to a rookie quarterback going against a 2023 playoff team. Then the Vikings shut the Texans down.
And that Packers’ 30-14 win came against a Titans team the Bears just barely beat in the opener.
The concerning thing for the Bears is that this part of the schedule — at least against the Titans, Colts, Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers — looked like their easiest stretch heading into the season. The meat of the Bears schedule looks like it’s in November and December, particularly with all those NFC North games.
These early results only confirm that the Bears have a long way to go if they want to be competitive in those division games.
True or false: The Bears are in danger of their defense losing patience with the other units soon.
Kane: False — as of right now. I say that because I think the Bears have a good veteran group of leaders who know how to handle their business, even amid the many frustrations. I don’t see guys like Edmunds, Jaylon Johnson, Sweat and Kevin Byard — players who have been touted for working like pros — turning on the offense after three weeks of struggles.
But if it keeps continuing down the road? It would be hard to not let some resentment creep in.
All three Colts scoring drives Sunday came after the defense got stops, only to be thrust back into the game because of mistakes.
Edmunds saved the Bears from giving up points when he intercepted Anthony Richardson in the end zone in the second quarter. Four plays later Williams threw an interception, and the Colts followed by putting together a three-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. Williams’ sack-fumble came on the first play after the Bears got a fourth-quarter stop, and the Colts scored a touchdown. And a Bears third-quarter neutral zone infraction on a Colts punt extended another Colts touchdown drive.
Of course, the Bears defense needs to be better at handling those sudden change situations. But you can see where it would be frustrating.
Wiederer: On Monday, Byard acknowledged the human-nature aggravation for the defense having to carry so much weight as the offense finds itself. “It can be frustrating at times because we want to win,” Byard said. “Like I’ve said, everybody wants to win. But it’s not a pointing-the-finger-type deal.”
As one of eight team captains, Byard understands his responsibility as a tone-setter and continues to handle that role gracefully, calling for a narrow focus from the defense.
“We have to do our jobs,” he said. “And at the end of the day this is a professional football league. We all get paid to do a job. I get paid to play safety for the Chicago Bears. And I have to make sure I continue to do that job.”
Byard expects his defensive teammates to be in that same mindset and will offer reminders as needed. He also knows how to check his calendar, realizing it’s still September and that the Bears still have 14 games in a long season ahead.
“I’ve been in situations in this league, man, where the offense has been struggling and eventually did get the ball rolling,” Byard said. “Once everything is rolling, we can make a real run.
“(On defense) we just have to continue to do what we need to do — force turnovers to try to win ballgames. That’s what it’s got to be until things change. And until then we have to continue to just do our jobs and try to make sure we’re just locked in on that.”
Well said. It’s a great mentality. Eventually, though, as folks in Chicago know all too well, even the strongest and most resolute defenses can reach their tipping point. So it’s imperative the offense has a game soon where it carries the load.
